Abstract
The present study was undertaken to produce probiotic Caciotta cheeses from pasteurized ewes’ milk by using different combinations of autochthonous microbial cultures, containing putative probiotic strains, and evaluate their influence on gross composition, lipid components, sensory properties and microbiological and metabolite profiles of the cheeses throughout ripening process. A control cheese was produced using commercial starter cultures. The hydrophilic molecular pools (mainly composed by amino acids, organic acids, and carbohydrates) were characterized by means of 1H NMR spectroscopy, while the cholesterol, α-tocopherol and fatty acid composition by HPLC-DAD/ELSD techniques. Conventional culturing and a PCR-DGGE approach using total cheese DNA extracts were used to analyze cheese microbiota and monitor the presence and viability of starters and probiotic strains. Our findings showed no marked differences for gross composition, total lipids, total cholesterol, and fatty acid levels among all cheeses during ripening. Differently, the multivariate statistical analysis of NMR data highlighted significant variations in the cheese’ profiles both in terms of maturation time and strains combination. The use of autochthonous cultures and adjunct probiotic strains did not adversely affect acceptability of the cheeses. Higher levels of lactobacilli (viability of 108–109 cfu/g of cheese) were detected in cheeses made with the addition of probiotic autochthonous strains with respect to control cheese during the whole ripening period, suggesting the adequacy of Caciotta cheese as a carrier for probiotic bacteria delivery.
Highlights
A “Functional Food” may be defined as any food with a positive impact on the consumer’s health, physical performance or state of mind in addition to its nutritious value (Karimi et al, 2012)
No significant differences were observed among cheese types, a faster increase in pH was recorded in cheeses produced with adjunct probiotic strains compared to the control
Cheese has been demonstrated to be an optimal carrier product to deliver living probiotic bacteria, and autochthonous potential probiotic strains would be the best choice for use as adjunct cultures since they should be well-adapted to this food environment (Castro et al, 2015; Fusco et al, 2019; Bancalari et al, 2020)
Summary
A “Functional Food” may be defined as any food with a positive impact on the consumer’s health, physical performance or state of mind in addition to its nutritious value (Karimi et al, 2012). The concept of biofunctional foods is generally used when the beneficial physiological effects are conferred by microorganisms (Gobbetti et al, 2010). Probiotics, as part of functional foods, are a growing area of scientific interest for their role in maintaining a healthy intestinal ecosystem. They are bacteria, generally lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, and enterococci and yeasts, associated with a plethora of health beneficial effects (Franz et al, 2011; Albenzio et al, 2013; Saad et al, 2013; Perotti et al, 2014; Merchàn et al, 2020). Populations of at least 107 CFU/g in the final product have been suggested as therapeutic quantities of probiotic cultures in different processed foods (Talwalkar and Kailasapathy, 2004; Karimi et al, 2012)
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